“This is the way the world ends” says the poem*, “not with a bang but a whimper”. I’m hearing the whimpering of the school governance system I’ve known all my working life at the moment, and I’m mourning its passing, and hoping we can carry forward the best bits into a new system. We have to if we’re going to do the best for the children and young people in our multi-academy trusts in the future.

Why am I being so melodramatic? Well the government’s agenda is clear. ‘The era of the standalone school is coming to an end’ reads the Regional Schools Commissioners’ slide. And, while there are…